360 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



their large eyes and stouter abdomen. By far the larger number of the 

 inmates of the hive, therefore, are females, among which, however, one 

 very important difference is noticeable, viz., that a single one only in 

 each hive is capable of laying eggs, all the rest remaining sterile 

 throughout their life. This fertile female excels the others in size, and 

 is distinguished from the drones, which are of about the same size, by 

 its more slender abdomen. This female is the mother of the future 

 generations of bees, the most important among the thousands of 

 individuals of the community, and accordingly distinguished by the 

 bee-keeper as the queen. The smaller, sterile females are called workers, 

 inasmuch as they perform all the various labours required for the 

 maintenance of the hive. In order to understand these labours and 

 the life of a bee society in general, we will examine a hive from its 

 foundation for a period of a year. 



2. Foundation of the Hire. It is a warm day in June, and the earth 

 is smiling beneath the bright sunshine. In the old hives the bees have 

 considerably multiplied, and to-day they are running excitedly about 

 one another ; others are hanging in a huge cluster from the alighting- 

 board ; they are more given to stinging than usual, and a peculiar buzz 

 resounds from the hive. All this betokens that something remarkable 

 is about to happen. In fact, a young queen will soon be leaving her 

 cell in the hive, as is indicated by the loud "toot-toot" to which from 

 time to time she gives utterance. However, since two queens can never 

 exist side by side in a hive, it will either mean a struggle for life and 

 death between the two, or the older queen must quit the hive. It is the 

 latter event which takes place ; for behold a thousand bees rushing 

 forth in wild haste from the door, the old queen in their midst ! The 

 bee-keeper calls this exodus the swarming of the bees. For some minutes 

 the swarm hovers about in the air ; then it settles down upon the branch 

 of a tree. One bee clambers with its legs upon the other, until a large 

 cluster, like a bunch of grapes, hangs down from the branch. The 

 bee-keeper now hastens up and sweeps all the bees into an empty hive, 

 which henceforth will be the dwelling of the new community. This is 

 probably the second swarm from the same hive. If still other queens 

 are produced in the old hive, they are either stung to death or likewise 

 abandon the hive, accompanied by new swarms, each of which consists 

 of smaller numbers than the previous one. The young queen only once 

 (as a rule) during her several years' existence leaves the hive for a 

 lengthened period, for the purpose of engaging in sexual union with one 

 of the drones, which quits the hive at the same time (nuptial flight}. 

 Soon after the swarming season the drones which have been produced 

 in the spring are killed (massacre of the. drones). 



